Veronica Mars: A novice’s intro to nerdery.

GUEST POST by Ms. Robin West – Lover of all things blonde, pint-sized, and witty.

Let me start by saying, I’m not really a nerd in the typical sense. Wikipedia, (where I get all my facts), defines nerd as, “a person, typically described as being overly intellectual, obsessive, or socially impaired. They may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, obscure, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly technical or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities.”

I am not socially impaired, nor do I play video games or relate to anything “highly technical.” Actually, that terminology scares me. What I can relate to is that I obsess, a lot. When I stumble upon something I really like it consumes me entirely for as long as it can hold my attention. Depending how well written the content, the obsession could be days, or weeks, or years. And at times the object of my obsession happened to fall in the sci-fi or fantasy realm: A Song of Ice and Fire, Battlestar Galactica, cult classics, superheros, etc. My contribution to this blog will discuss those types of things, in great detail. If you have any questions about video games or comic books, (aside from film adaptations), you’ve probably got the wrong girl.

This brings me to my first topic; Veronica Mars. To me, Veronica is a good example of a cross-over TV show. It’s a completely mainstream concept, with subtle undertones of quirkiness, and a devoted, if not obsessed, following. It’s a good place for any aspiring nerd to start.

I first watched Veronica Mars six years ago via Netflix. You know, back when you actually got DVD’s in the mail versus streaming them instantly. I was 27 at the time. Teenage angst laden drama was not in my usual repertoire; but a friend urged that I watch, and well, what the hell else was I going to do with my Friday nights? What I assumed would be a TV show about boys, and high school dances, and spoiled rich kids; was actually a show about boys, and high school dances, and spoiled rich kids – plus murder, intrigue and some of the best TV dialogue ever. The pop culture references, adorable lead character, and quick-witted writing made the show an unexpected delight. Plus it was just good, clean, television fun. Rob Thomas, writer of other popular teenage TV dramas such as Dawson’s Creek and the revamped 90210; really got this one right.

I can’t say the exact moment I became hooked but I imagine it involved a smoldering glance from bad boy Logan Echolls,(he was so misunderstood!), or a witty comeback by the pint-sized Veronica as she defended the underdogs of Neptune High –one 60 minute episode at a time.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some cheesy episodes. Remember the one where the undercover cop posed as a student to prevent a potential mass shooting only to turn out to be a bad guy himself…really? Did I mention the bad guy was Jonathan Taylor Thomas dressed in camouflage? Were we supposed to buy him as a bad boy? When this episode aired I imagine girls women everywhere collectively searched for, and destroyed, their 1992 Teen Beat collection. I’m really glad that guy quit acting.

Smoldering

Not Smoldering

And then there was an entire episode dedicated to retrieving lost dogs –but, I digress…

I liked the show because Kristen Bell, aka. Veronica Mars, made the character so damn likeable. In fact, it was Bell who first introduced me to Battlestar Galactica with her usage of the terms “frak” and “so say we all.” If not for her, I may never have given the series a chance. I mean, if Kristen Bell tells me to jump off a bridge, I jump off a bridge – topless.

Need I say more?

Are those teeth even genetically possible? It’s no wonder Logan couldn’t resist the “tiny blonde one.”

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out they are making a Veronica Mars movie this summer. Veronica and Logan and Robin, (that’s me!), together again!!! In fact, it was obsessive fans that funded the entire project via kickstarter. If that doesn’t say cult TV show, I don’t know what does.

In summary, I haven’t met a self-proclaimed “nerd,” or average every-day person for that matter, who didn’t swoon over Kristen Bell. Go ahead, ogle the picture again… I’ll wait… If you’re looking to get your feet wet in the word of nerdery, there is no better place to start then Neptune High. I myself just started re-watching and it’s like watching it again for the first time. Apparently my short term memory didn’t store the outcome of the Lilly Kane murder investigation. OH THE SUSPENSE!

My goal with this blog is to offend everyone in the world at least once with my words… so no one has a reason to have a heightened sense of themselves. We are all ignorant, we are all found wanting, we are all bad people sometimes.